Daughter of the forgotten time
by StefanLess
Summary: This is a story of a girl, the daughter of the last rider, born when they were all forgotten is living in a time of fear and forgotten lands. Taken far away from Alagesia to protect her, she grows up and find her fathers past following her... through love
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was as if the sun had its own clock. As its golden edge passed over the tip of the mountain and in through her window, she opened her eyes and grumbled at the notion it was morning.

She lived in a small hollowed out trunk of a tree. The tree was filled with few items inside. There was her bed covered with oxen skins and next to it laid a pile of wood. In the other corner across from her bed laid a small table made of cedar wood and a small chair to match. With a fire outside for cooking there was no reason why she should leave her home. But just over the edge of the cliff, where her home was, were the Falls. The Falls were her centre of peace and serenity. Sometimes she would just stand on the peak of the overhang and dive down the hundred metres into the lake below. When she sat on top of the cliff, she could see from the top of the Falls to the Lake of Mystics and then onto the Great Wood.

She loved the smells in the morning and watching the sun setting in the evening. The way it cast a golden glow on the water always made her smile to herself. The absolute highlight of her year was during the winter; the cold crisp wind would curl and flow between her home and the Lastena Mountain and whip up the leaves. Every now and again she was almost certain that it made the shape of a face or sometimes it would make a human figure. She knew that it was impossible but she loved the thought of ancient spirits watching her.

It gave her comfort, thinking that there was someone watching her, especially at night in her lonely life. Although she had chosen to live alone, she sometimes longed for a man to hold her or even thinking that she wasn't the only person for at least two leagues. As her thoughts engulfed her, as her mind wandered into her infinite imagination, she had walked outside to the edge of the cliff. She did not want to jump off but instead she sat and wept. Every time she began to think about how lonely she was, she wept and longed even more for someone to hold her.

After an hour of sitting and staring, the sun was fully in the sky and its rays cast an unnatural glow on the barren land that lay before her; the vast wood, the every flowing Falls and the long line of people in armour which glinted in the sunlight. They seemed to be heading in her direction and just as the thought dawned on her, her eyes widened and her mind raced. _What? Why are they coming here? Do I need to do something?_ Not sure how she was going to do anything, she had a flash of a memory. Before her father left…he had left his armour and weapons for her in case she might need to defend herself.

As she ran to the chest under her bed, her eyes caught a glimpse of shadows on the lake. _Scouts, has to be._ Knowing there were scouts eased her tension slightly, at least she against a full what looked like a full battalion.

The leather armour was stiff to pull over her trousers and shirt, not very flattering for a woman but she didn't have a choice. The bow and arrows where the easiest to find, but the sword was hidden well, but she found it in the nick of time. It was still in its black sheath, its blade of exquisite steel shone when it met with the rays of the sun. Still as beautiful as the day he had put it away, the hilt moulded to match her father's hand still somehow fitted hers, even though she did use it with both. The blade was longer than she remembered and she prayed it wasn't too big for her to use, especially since the chimes she set up for intruders rang behind her.

As her father had taught her, she went outside and climbed up the few branches left on the tree stump and pressed herself to the trunk. With her sword at her side and the bow in her hands with an arrow notched ready to land in someone's chest, she stood waiting, hardly breathing.

As the first one came around the corner, she released the arrow as soon as her nerves let her. Happy with the destination it landed; she notched another and shot the one behind, which she ended with a smile as the arrow dug itself firm into his gullet. The next took two arrows to keep him down and the last seemed to act strange. As it rounded the corner it seemed to peer round the tree then ran back the way it had come, only to be shot in the back. Yet she hadn't released the arrow. Just as her intrigue got the most of her, as man rounded the corner it little more than a white shirt and riding trousers covered by a light cloak. She cocked her head as he inspected the dead, and for some reason he walked happily into her home as if it were his own. After a minute or two, he sauntered out and looked at the sun with puzzlement on his features.

"You can come down now miss, there is no one here who will hurt you." His voice was well mannered but had a slight lilt she couldn't place. He turned and looked at her directly, even as she pressed herself against the tree to try and hide, he smiled at her and gestured for her to go to him. As she did reluctantly, he held out his hand to her which she didn't take but just looked him in the eye to try figure him out.

His eyes were most puzzling to her. His eyes were a brilliant blue, as crystal clear as the lake. And yet they seemed to have sadness in them. His mouth was in a gentle smirk and from what she could see of his hair for the hood, it was a sand colour but somewhat darker than any sand she had seen. As the cloak blew in the wind it revealed a small array of knives around his waist, which also played host to his sword and full quiver. The bow was still in his hand, but it seemed strange to her than such a delicate bow wasn't snapping from his tight grip.

"Who are you? You are not a traveller are you? Even one with experience would not carry such weapons." She tried to keep her voice steady but she was still shaken by the attack. He did not answer straight away, so she decided to see what the people she had killed looked like.

To her surprise they weren't human, which meant they weren't here on royal business. She became more puzzled as she searched their armour. They all had a series of cuts along their arms, they were too organised to be battle scars but they were white, not red from blood but pure white.

"They are what are known as Shai; they scavenge land and kill all on it for riches. They send scouts, then infantry and finally the horsemen. I am surprised they didn't figure out your strategy." By his voice he didn't mean it in a mocking way, but she was still wondering who he was and the fact he seemed to feel like he needed to educate her sent her over the edge.

"Who are you? What is it you want with me?" Her voice rose as she spoke, especially as he moved towards her as she asked what he wanted. As he stood in front of her, slightly towering over her she became nervous. She hadn't really been this close to someone before, especially a man.

"I am here to save you. You are much too precious to be out here alone. Please, trust me Aviana"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

He said that they needed to stay at her home for the night, and then set off for safety in the morning. He didn't tell her anything more and that angered her, but not enough that she told him to leave. She didn't stop watching him all that night, even when he did the mundane things such as make the meal, she couldn't stop. There was just something in the way he moved that fascinated her; there was a glide to his walk and smoothness to his movements. The worst thing to her was his eyes. She thought they were normal, but when he looked at her there seemed to be something in them, not sadness or happiness but something she couldn't place.

"You have not told me where you are taking me, sir" Although she tried to hide it, her voice seemed to put a lot of influence on the last word. He was prodding at the fire when she spoke, and as she did he stopped and turned to her. There was some kind of glare in his face, like she should not have asked the question. She flinched as he turned and tried to walk off but he put his hand on her knee. She looked at it, and as he took it back, he seemed to hesitate.

"My name is Jaq." His smile seemed to fail, as if he meant to seem happy but then remembered something sad. He turned back to the fire and went back to silence, making her even more confused as to why he would not answer any of her questions. She sighed and walked into her home.

For some reason she had forgotten how much of a mess it was. The clothes all over the floor and on some of the furniture made the room look so much smaller. She had no perception of time but just as she was finishing packing them into her satchel, Jaq appeared at the door. He held two bowls in his hands, the steam coming off them smelt good to her as she realised that she had not eaten all day.

"Come in, I was just preparing for the journey tomorrow. I did not know what I should pack, so I put everything I could find in. Is that enough?" He nodded as he made his way to the table. She followed him over and sat opposite, gladly eating what was in front of her. She kept glancing up, only to be met by the top of his head. She was dieing to talk to him, but for a strange reason she could not bring herself to talk. Thank fully he did it for her.

"My home, we are going to my home. It is the only place protected enough for you." He didn't look up until he finished talking. When he did he looked her straight in the eye, the blue seeming endlessly deep. Until he smiled, and when he did it seemed to be a shock back to reality. The more he withheld from her the more she suspected him. There was something off about him to her, every time he smiled it seemed false to her. The idea of him lying hurt her and it sunk in deep, but the realisation of it confused her even more. _Why am I thinking like this? You have known him for a day and yet you dread the thought of him going, and of him lying. _ The more she went over it in her head, the more she thought she felt something for him. Then he looked at her, right into her eyes. The world seemed to fall away and her breath caught.

"You seem to be staring at me Aviana" There seemed to be some sort of embarrassment in his voice as he spoke, and as he did the lilt in his voice became more pronounced when he said her name. "Which bring me to a small wonderment, why do you share the name of a poison?"

"My Mother found me in a field full of them. My parents could not bear children and when they found me as an infant they took it as a blessing. They told me on the eve of my tenth year, but I always felt different." She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and tried to avoid his eyes as he took the bowls away.

"I bet it was your hair, such vibrancy is not natural." He smiled as he spoke, showing her without a doubt that he meant it as a compliment. The blood flushed straight to her cheeks. No one had ever said such things to her, everyone except her father before he left. Not knowing what to say, she simply sat there too shaken to utter a word.

Being sat in silence began to irritate Jaq, so much so that he eventually took a risk and asked Aviana of her past.

"For the sake of my own curiosity, why is there no man in your life? It just seems that all this space is a bit much for only one person." He sat back in front of her and watched her every move, not blinking at her and keeping his face perfectly straight.

She began to feel uncomfortable under his constant stare, but even as she walked outside to the cliff edge, followed her and once again never stopped watching her. When she came to rest at the edge and curl her arms round her knees as she drew them against her, she let her head drop onto them as she let out a sigh. She could not seem to make sense of the past day. Even more so why there was a man she had never seen before suddenly knowing everything about her. When she wondered about how much he knew about her, she was on the brink of asking about her father when she felt a blanket fall around her shoulders.

As she looked up she was greeted by a warm smile which made his eyes glow in the fading light. "Thank you." She smiled back at him as warmly as she could whilst wondering if her green eyes looked as beautiful as his did.

"Aviana, I have a confession to make. Your father wasn't a General in the Army, he was a Dragonrider." She stared at him with no sign of recognition on her face, it was then the Jaq thought it best to carry on. "He was known as The Great Shadeslayer, amongst other things of course. But he was the one who brought them back, him and Saphira his dragon. After the riders had been gone for hundreds of years, he was given an egg and it hatched. He was their saviour, and he lived an unnaturally long but amazing life with the woman of his dreams. But he died. Before his death Arya, his wife, had given birth and to a beautiful girl with hair like the sun which was not surprising considering her elf and rider lineage. It is unsure if he knew of his daughter but after his tragic end, Arya was consumed in sadness and gave the child to a trusted friend who gave the child to a family far away from anything that could cause her to re-join the battle her parents fought. They had enemies and she wished for her daughter to be away from all that and to live a happy normal life." He paused and looked at her as she shivered in the breeze of the coming winter. "The child was you."

As his tale came to an end, tears began to form in her eyes. She never thought of herself having a history as important as this, but even though she now knew everything she still wondered about one small thing.

"What does this mean for me?" She dare not look at him from fear of what he would say. "Is this why you are here?" He nodded. "So where do we go from here? I think it is time that I know. Please." Just as he was about to answer her, after giving it a long moments thought, she whispered to herself. "I just don't want to be away from you."

So taken back by what she had said he decided ignore it, even though it means so much to him that he was important to this wonderful woman. When he began to talk the voice never came. Instead he put his arms around her and brought her body next to his. He wondered if his actions were either appropriate or wanted, but his worries were soon put to rest by a small sigh and the feeling of her body relaxing against his chest.

Without realisation he bent his face into the fire that was her luscious hair. But he did not stop there, instead his lips met with her head and it was there that they froze, frozen with fear of her reaction. As if in a dream she lifted her head and their eyes locked. For endless moments they seemed transfixed in their own little world until his eyes drifted to the full pink lips of her which were almost whispering to him.

"Jaq. I don't know what it is like to be in love. I don't know what it means when I am excited by a touch, or by a voice. I don't know what it means to be kissed or even held tightly. I don't know if it means that I am in love." Her voice never changed to a subtle whisper, but she could have been silent for Jaq knew everything that she felt spoke of for he could feel it too, holding her in his arms and feeling her rise and fall with her breathing. Even her eyes staring back at him sent shivers through his body. What she spoke of seemed to be pure and very much heart felt, which made him happy as he looked closer into her eyes and saw that there was no evidence of a lie. As his mind raced with thoughts of her she leant back onto her knees and looked wistfully into the lake below, regret seemingly etched onto her features. "I should not have said anything. I don't know what I speak of. I apologies Jaq, please forgive me."

He slowly moved onto his knees and knelt in front of her. A sudden spark flew up his arms as he reached for her. When his fingers met with her porcelain skin they trembled and her eyes fluttered from the heat of his skin. His hand slid to hold her neck with his thumb on her cheek, stroking it softly barely touching the surface. She leant forward, her hands against is chest feeling the rise and fall of it as his blood rushed through his veins as if on fire and his breathing slowed. A shiver ran down her spine as his lips brushed over hers, barely touching them but even feeling his shaky breath sent shivers through her body. Trembling he pressed his lips onto hers and in the moment she froze. Yet her fear did not last long as his arms wrapped round her body pulling her into his and tangling his fingers into the silky waves of her hair. The more he held her the more she yielded to his touch and her lips followed his pull as she weakened as she felt the heat from his body. The kiss grew in passion with every second with the fire in their veins burning as she longed to be held tighter and he gladly abided to her desire for him. They became so lost in each other's embrace that they fell to the ground with him still holding her tightly with no sign of ever letting her go.


End file.
